COVENTRY people will benefit from a £6.6million cash injection to help boost skills and get people back into work.

The cash, given to the West Midlands region, will create skills and employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups and address skills shortages for employers in key sectors such as construction, leisure and tourism and social care.

The new funding will help to address barriers to training and employment for about 5,500 people who are either long-term unemployed, have been made redundant, or are already in jobs but need to improve their skills.

The funding has come from the Learning and Skills Council's regional European Social Fund (ESF) programme.

Julie Fowler, ESF contracts director at the Learning and Skills Council said: "This is a significant investment in skills for the region, which will help to upskill the local workforce by reaching into the untapped resource that exists within our disadvantaged communities."

Training provider Biscom Resource Management will receive £599,000 to help reduce long-term unemployment in disadvantaged areas in Coventry, Birmingham, Solihull, the Black Country and Telford.